By Amy Thrash, Sports Reporter • amy@southerntorch.com

FORT PAYNE, Ala. — The Fort Payne Wildcats were defeated by the Briarwood Christian Lions 28-20 at their season opener on Friday night.

With 9:01 remaining in the first quarter, the Briarwood Lions scored first.  The extra point  was good, giving the Lions the early 7-0 lead. Briarwood punches another in with .47 seconds remaining in the first, giving them the 14-0 advantage.

In the second quarter, JD Blalock connected with Cam Thomas for a 31-yard touchdown with 9:41 remaining, making the score 14-7. With 5:32 remaining in the second quarter Alex McPherson nailed a 24-yard field goal to shorten the Lions lead to 14-10. McPherson then hit a 56-yard field goal to narrow the lead to 14-13 with 3:57 remaining in the half. The Lions scored their third touchdown of the night with 1:45 remaining in the half to make the score 21-13.

With 6:49 remaining in the third quarter,  Briarwood punched it in to give the Lions the 28-13 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Fort Payne's Hunter Love dashed into the endzone with 3:44 remaining on the clock to cut the score to 28-20. The Wildcats last minute drive ended with a turnover on the 4 yard line in the Lions territory, to make the final score 28-20. 

“Briarwood is a very good team with great coaches and players”, said Head Coach Chris Elmore. “We had chances to win the game but we made 3 or 4 key mistakes in crucial times of the game. This will be a great learning experience for players and coaches and we will improve.”

The Fort Payne Wildcats will travel to take on the Gadsden City Titans Thursday night at 7:00.